As expected, the US-China trade war has started. On Thursday last week, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on counteracting “China’s economic aggression” and announced a US$60 billion punitive tariff scheme on as many as 1,300 Chinese products following an investigation based on Section 301 of the US’ 1962 Trade Expansion Act.
Launching a trade war is part of the Trump administration’s national security strategy — the economy is critical to US national security, and the trade policy is to counter hostile economic competitors.